Elon Musk tells employees to 'ignore all distractions' as the quarter ends and pressure from the SEC mounts, leaked email reveals

On Friday Elon Musk emailed Tesla employees and told them to “ignore all distractions” as the third quarter comes to a close.

Tesla’s stock started crashing after hours on Thursday when the SEC filed a lawsuit against Musk for making false statements about the company, including his claim that he would take the company private at $US420 a share.

Elon Musk on Friday sent an email to all of Tesla, urging his employees to keep working diligently in the face of mounting pressure from federal regulators and a crashing stock price.

Ignore all distractions. One more hardcore weekend and we will be victorious. Thanks for being amazing, ???? Elon

This email comes fewer than 24 hours after the SEC sued Musk for making false statements about the company, including his August claim that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $US420 a share. The SEC is also recommending that Musk be barred from helming a public company.

Tesla’s stock fell almost 14% during Friday trading, continuing its plunge on reports that Musk previously rejected a settlement with the SEC. The settlement stipulated that Musk would have had to pay a fine and step down as chairman of Tesla for two years.Even Musk’s most ardent supporters criticised him for walking away from the SEC’s settlement offer. Gene Munster, a managing partner at venture capital firm Loup Ventures, said that removing Musk from Tesla might be good for the company.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Ross Gerber, CEO of wealth-management firm Gerber Kawasaki – one of Musk’s fiercest supporters – expressed disappointment with Musk for not taking the SEC deal. He also said he no longer had confidence in Tesla’s board.

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